MANILA, Philippines — The body of the missing crewman from the MT Terra Nova has been recovered, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Thursday.
The MT Terra Nova capsized and sank in the waters of Bataan shortly past midnight today. A total of 16 out of 17 crew members were rescued from the sinking.
“At around 3PM today, 25 July 2024, the BRP Melchora Aquino (MRRV-9702) has located the body of MT Terra Nova’s missing crew in the vicinity waters off Limay, Bataan,” the PCG said on its Facebook page.
The oil tanker carried 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil, which had already begun leaking into the waters of Bataan and Manila Bay. The PCG deployed three 44-meter multi-role response vessels to contain the oil spill.
“The PCG sets an operational target of seven days to finish siphoning the oil from the sunken tanker to stop further spread,” CG Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan said.
According to PCG spokesperson CG Rear Admiral Armando Balilo, siphoning the oil spill will not be too technical.
“The vessel sunk 34 meters deep, which is considerably shallow. Siphoning will not be very technical and can be done quickly to protect the vicinity waters of Bataan and Manila Bay against environmental, social, economic, financial, and political impacts,” he said.
Balilo also said that there was no storm warning signal hoisted over Bataan when the MT Terra Novan departed from Limay, Bataan. As a result, the PCG said that the rules and regulations were not violated by the tanker.
Environmental assessment
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had earlier ordered environmental and science agencies to assess the oil spill’s impact on the environment.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources said that it has ordered the deployment of a survey vessel to help determine the location of the tanker.
“Ang immediate na kailangan po nating malaman ay ang location ng vessel at kung ano ang structural condition nito in order for us to understand and anticipate the dispersion of the oil,” DENR Secretary Maria Antonia “Toni” Yulo-Loyzaga said at a briefing in Bataan with local authorities.
(The immediate necessity is to find out the location of the vessel and its structural condition in order for us to understand and anticipate the dispersion of the oil.)
She also said that the agency is mapping the ecosystems that may have been affected by the oil spill once the vessel is found.
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